Code Geass: Blackmail Week at Ashford
by Kumoru
Summary: Ashford Academy holds its first Candid Camera Event! The goal: take photos. The prize? Winners get a student council member to do whatever they want. Desperation, randomness, and fun-ness ensue. Let the hunt begin!


Code Geass: Blackmail Week at Ashford

Disclaimer: I do not own Code Geass.

Author's Notes: This story occurs sometime between the giant pizza incident and the Euphy incident. I didn't feel like looking up the rest of the Black Knights' names, so I've mentioned only Kallen, Ougi, and Tamaki. Pretend the others are there. :D Don't know if I'll continue this. Meh. Enjoy!

Edit: Excuse for Kallen not participating in event will be provided in next chapter.

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Chapter 1

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/ Day 1 Turn 1: Declaration of Doom

"After going over all of your wonderful suggestions, Student Council has decided to host its very first Candid Camera Event!" Milly announced over her white speakerphone. The gathered students cheered, since despite their eccentricity, the school events were always loads of crazy fun. The giant pizza attempt, for example, no one would forget for decades to come. From the sidelines, Lelouch grimaced; Shirley, Nunnally, and Nina smiled; Suzaku and Rivalz whooped energetically.

Milly cleared her throat. The crowd quieted. "What is it exactly? The rules are simple. I will draw a word from this hat-" She gestured at the furry, white monstrosity. "-for each of the Student Council members. They will have to avoid touching the object they get for the entire week. Touching through clothing counts. The goal is to collect blackmail photos… that is, if you manage to photograph a Student Council member in contact with his object, he will have to do one thing- _anything_- you ask him to do. And if you get multiple photos, well," she shrugged, "you receive multiple favors."

First, she drew her own sheet of paper. There had been many different words, such as "Orange", "Shoes", and "Cake". Hers said, "Skirt." Tch, she had drawn a difficult one, considering the number of ladies on campus. But no matter. Next, she drew the vice president's word.

"Phone."

Lelouch's stalwart confidence cracked a bit. He was supposed to survive without a cell phone… for a week? He needed to contact the Black Knights, the Japan Liberation Front… Maybe he could send them an e-mail. He would not lose just yet.

Nina's turn. Milly looked at the paper and read, "Keyboard…"

The pig-tailed girl paled and broke into shivering whispers. "What? Now… What am I… going to do… all day?"

Shirley's word followed: "Candy."

"Well, that should be easy enough," she nodded.

Rivalz was next. When Milly named his object, he protested- "But how in the world will I-"

"Shush!" Milly dismissed his talk with a wave of her hand. "Lelouch has to part with his precious cell phone, so don't whine that you've got it tough."

Nunnally reached a hand toward Shirley. She was technically not a full-time member of the Student Council- and her friends didn't want her to be the target of inappropriate attention- so she had been exempt from the torture, no, the event. "Shirley, I didn't hear it. What did Rivalz get?"

"He got 'Food.'"

Finally, Milly dug into the hat and pulled out Suzaku's paper. It said, "Person."

"Well, there you have it." The President of the Student Council wished her staff good luck. Now, she looked pointedly at a nervous, purple-eyed boy. "By the way. Get me winning shots of Lelouch, and I'll triple your club's funding for the year. The event has begun!"

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/ Day 1 Turn 2: Hideout and Ambush

It seemed easy. If she steered clear of sugary mush for the week, she was golden.

Not quite.

Ten minutes had elapsed since Milly dismissed them from the auditorium, and already half the student body had equipped cameras and various weapons of doom. Shirley did not wonder at the reason so many people had cameras on hand, since she frequently brought one of her own to school (for Lulu-watching).

She nearly ran into a couple of boys clutching candied fruit and other sugar-filled treats. They spotted her; with lively calls of, "Wait! We want to take a picture!" the chase commenced.

Shirley darted down the hall, up the stairs, through another hallway, and back downstairs. She passed several surprised people in her escape. She knew the dangers of hesitation, so she pressed on toward the warehouse beside the school. The pursuing group of boys soon turned into an enormous mob.

She ducked into the warehouse and locked the door behind her. Outside, the frenzied shouts formed a twisted sort of chanting. "Sh…Ir…Ly…Shir…Leeee…." _We want your pics._

Someone banged on the door. Shirley released a terrified yelp and scrambled away.

"Damn," a familiar voice said. Somebody was in the warehouse with her.

Lelouch stepped out from behind a wooden crate of festival decorations. His fingers latched around a sleek, black cell phone, and he glared, as if daring her to take a picture. "You lured them to us!" he groaned. More thumping rattled the door. This time voices accompanied it. Where to run? Where to run…

"Shirley!" He gestured to one of the crates and pried it open. He breathed heavily with the effort. "Try this."

When the metallic door exploded in confetti of grey and black smoke, only two "people" were in sight. One appeared to be a science teacher in white lab coat. She wore foggy lenses and had pearly, pink hair. Standing alert to her right was the presumed owner of the furry, white hat: Mister Furry, Blue Bunny.

Oh dear.

The students spread out and searched every visible inch of the room, but their target had vanished. "Teacher, have you seen Shirley? She's a girl about this tall with brown hair…" one of the mobsters ventured.

"Sorry," Shirley replied in a cracked voice, "Umm… I think I saw someone running to the Student Council room."

"Thanks, teacher!" Once the others had left, Lelouch took off the rabbit headpiece. Shirley had a good look at him.

"Haha… hahahaha…. Hahahahhahahahhahaha….!"

One hour down, four days and five hours left.

Meanwhile, on the other side of campus, a boy with messy brown hair and the Ashford Academy uniform ran laps around the school. He did not do it for the exercise. A few of the more athletic students chased him, as he endeavored to stay out of reach, for fear of physical contact and the snapshots that promised to follow.

He decided, after half an hour of sprinting, that the predators had definitely plotted something. An ambush, maybe.

On cue, a small panel of metal jerked out from the grass. It sent Suzaku crashing to the ground. He picked himself up and stared. Over a hundred hunters surrounded him, all in perfect pincer formation. "Holy shit."

He wondered if he could escape unscathed. No- for his dignity's sake, he had to survive. The command, _Live!_ drummed in his head.

For years to come, students of Ashford would be telling their children and their children's children tales of the heroic boy who dodged hundreds of yearning hands to claim victory on that day. It looked almost inhuman, the way he leaped over the crowd's heads and outdistanced even the school shipping truck.

_Run Suzaku. Run for your life._

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/ Day 1 Turn 3: Of Calls and Traps and Things

They stared at the phone. It did not move. The imaginary clock ticked away. People entered and exited the room, carrying news of the rebellion or confirming orders. Tamaki developed a cramp in his neck. Ougi saw a fly. Kallen's irritation increased the longer she stared at the phone. But Zero did not call.

"He said he would give us an update in the afternoon," Tamaki mumbled.

"I can't believe I cut class for this," Kallen huffed sourly. "Well, maybe something happened. It can't be helped."

A curious screech permeated the chamber. It was the phone… or rather, the machine beside it.

"Fax?"

The machine started to beep, so Ougi removed the receiver from its cradle. It hummed noisily. Kallen picked up the message before it slid to the floor. "It says: 'This is Zero. I will be contacting you through fax if anything comes up. My phone line is being watched, so _do not call _me. Understand that I may not be able to contact you until the end of the week. A new shipment of Knighmares will arrive at Point C tomorrow, a gift from a supporter. Kallen, I leave you to guard my office.'" The room fell silent.

Tamaki coughed, "So, want to look through Zero's stuff?"

"No!" Kallen snapped. "If he sees that we've moved something, it will be my head he takes."

Ougi tried to reason with her, "Don't tell me you're not a little bit curious as to who he is."

"Well…" She dropped her gaze and said softly, "I am, but…" She looked up. The others had already gone. "Wha-?" Zero's office! She chased after them, yelling, "No! Come back, you assholes!"

What Zero did not know, could not hurt him.

… Back at Ashford Academy…

"This is a school, not a battleground," Rivalz reminded himself. He squatted near the side of the main building and hid in the green shrubbery. He observed as three or four of the club leaders passed orders onto the surrounding people. Everywhere, students clad in yellow and black of Ashford patrolled the premises. "This is a school, not a-"

"There! I see one!" a girl's voice echoed shrilly in the daytime wind.

"Crap," he hissed under his breath. He had been seen.

As he ran, he tried to concoct a plan of escape. He could lock himself in the Student Council room, but no, Milly had a key to it, too. In his opinion, Milly was a foe because she had been the one to set doom upon his shoulders.

Suddenly, the floor caved in. Rivalz gasped in pain at the bottom of a small pitfall. "What the hell is this?"

Overhead, somebody cried, "We caught him, ma'am!"

"Good, good." A figure peered over the pit and grinned evilly. It was the President of the Equestrian Club. In her hands was a giant bowl of fruit. "You will soon be in my control, Student Council! Prepare for the worst!" Rivalz shielded his face.

The ground trembled. He could not see what was going on, but from the thundering sound of footfalls, he guessed that either someone had brought a Knightmare to school or the event had abruptly turned into a game of life and death. Both were highly plausible.

"It's Ganymede!" Indeed, the pizza-making mecha marched toward hole where Rivalz had fallen. Upon arriving, it extended a hand, and the boy grabbed on.

"Hold on tight!" Nina's voice called through the microphone.

"Nina?"

"Un!" She maneuvered Ganymede toward the gates of the school. "I can't find the others- they're probably hiding somewhere. I think we should all head home, for now. It's too dangerous…"

"Ah…" Rivalz would not argue that. "Nina, how did you get… I mean, why are you driving… Isn't Ganymede the Ashfords' property?"

Nina pressed a switch, and the gates opened. "Milly is letting me experiment with it."

"I see." Tomorrow, they would have to be more prepared. They needed tools. They needed ammo. "Nina… do you think we could make guns that shoot ping pong balls?"

"Why not?"

_To be continued._


End file.
